


Eight Seconds Left in Overtime

by fulcrumania



Category: Fate/Zero
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-16
Updated: 2012-05-16
Packaged: 2017-11-05 11:28:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/405899
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fulcrumania/pseuds/fulcrumania
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kariya reflects on his past late at night.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Eight Seconds Left in Overtime

**Author's Note:**

> Woah, haven't updated in a while.
> 
> Anyways, this is for the 24 Hour Challenge on Dreamwidth, and while I'm posting it on my personal journal, I'm posting it to a few other places as well.

_2:30 AM._ Everything was silent in the Matou household, save for the soft, ticking sounds of a grandfather clock in the dining room and the light footsteps of a person wandering around in the hallways. Sometimes they would stop, only to start up again. Eventually, they ended just as the creak of a window was heard.  
\---  
For as long as he could remember, Kariya was never fond of his uncle Zouken. He was an old, putrid-looking man who seemed like he had a couple of years left on his life, but still managed to carry on strong, given that he was the head of the Matou clan. However, he wanted an heir, and while the eldest son Byakuya wasn’t suited for the Matou magecraft, Kariya proved to be more then capable of taking up the throne.

Unfortunately for him, Kariya wasn’t keen on inheriting what he considered to be such disgusting magecraft, nor did he want to be stuck in a fruitless lifestyle with no independence, pretending to be something he didn’t want to be. It was pointless to try and control someone else’s life, and never cared much for the magus way of life, so Kariya vehemently refused each time he and Zouken butted heads over the issue. Each year that passed by, he yearned to get away from the family, and while Zouken’s concerns grew more belligerent, Kariya refused to give up. He was determined and believed that he would leave, no matter what.  
\---  
 _2:45 AM._ The window kept open as a light breeze flowed through. The floor of the dining room revealed the shadow of a person sitting upon the windowsill. His head was turned towards the outside, as if remembering something as his eyes seemed to be looking beyond the landscape around the estate.  
\---  
Aoi Zenjou had been the only thing that held him back from leaving. A childhood friend of his, Kariya came over to her place a lot to play with her, and soon found out that he was easily able to open up to her. He would talk about his problems with his family to her, and though she never quite understood his situation, she would offer words of comfort, and was able to soothe his worries away. As they grew up, he came to love her dearly, and though she never reciprocated those feelings, he didn’t mind, as he still held onto the slightest bit of hope in his heart. Even those days didn’t last long, as Aoi was soon to be wed by Tokiomi Tohsaka, a magus coming from another prestigious bloodline like the Matou. Though Kariya was initially concerned about it, he figured that it wouldn’t do to dwell on the issue anymore. As long as Aoi was happy with her new life, then it was fine with him as well.  
\---  
 _3:00 AM._ The floor showed no one at the window this time, and all was quiet throughout the Matou household once more, with only the grandfather clock ticking away.


End file.
